Abraham's Seed with Abraham's Faith 2 Corinthians 3:18; John 8:33,37; Romans 9:6-8

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1 Deeper Christian Life Ministry William Kumuyi Series: Hope '09 July 10, 2009 Abraham's Seed with Abraham's Faith 2 Corinthians 3:18; John 8:33,37; Romans 9:6-8 Praise the Lord. I said, "Praise the Lord." How many of you were not here in the morning? You were not here in the morning? Can you please raise up your hand. Thank you very much. We appreciate your coming tonight. But this is convention time, and it will be better for you to push everything aside and see how to actually make it; that will bless us, encourage those of us who are preaching, and those of us who have come a long, long way to come here to be with you. It will also bless you and bless the church. It will turn things around. We need to hear the same thing so we can have a focus on the same thing and also go the same direction. It is as we unite together in what we hear, what we receive and what we practice, and the direction we go that's what will bring blessing upon us as a church. We are united in purpose and united in the things we want to achieve. I pray that the blessings of God will be upon us in Jesus' name. Give me a good, good Amen. Now tonight we are going to look at the Word of God. Once again we need to prepare ourselves. Will you please bow your head and close your eyes. You tell the Lord tonight why you are here, what you want to have, and what you want to receive from the Lord. You want to receive something that will not only be a blessing to you as an individual: you want to think about your family, think about the whole church, and think about the web of relationships around you, so that your life will have an impact upon them. Then your life will actually have both meaning as well as impact. In Jesus' name we pray. Almighty God, we bless Your name for bringing us here together tonight. Thank you for what we are hearing, what we have heard already. And thank you for what you are speaking to us now. We pray, Lord, You ll reveal Your mind to us. We ll receive Your mind and we ll receive the message. We ask, Oh Lord, that there will be transformation in every life that You'll do something unforgettable in every life, every heart, every family, and the whole church in Jesus' name. We pray it will not be just message as usual, meeting as usual, convention as usual, praying as usual, listening as usual, writing notes as usual something different from what we ever had will happen in Jesus' name. We thank You because we know You have answered. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you very much. We can sit down. Tonight we come to this important message. But you know that no matter what you hear, no matter what you read, and no matter how much time we spend on the Word, our goal, our desire, should be the end product. It's not just to come, not just to hear the Word. What is the impact of the Word in my life, in my family, in the church I belong to, in the web of relationships or the network of people around me? What impact is the Word I'm hearing, what impact is it making? The thing we need to understand is that God wants to make a change. You call it a transformation. Whatever we call it a change. Deeper Christian Life Ministry 1

2 As we look at 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 18 "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed " That's the word you want to hold onto. We're changed. It says, "We're changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." It says, "We behold Him. We look at Him. We examine His life again." We try to analyze that life and ministry again. Then we look at our own lives, and we see the distance or the difference between where we are and where He is. Then we begin to ask ourselves, "How do we get from where we are to where He is?" That should be the result of the things we are hearing. That should be the purpose of this convention. That is, here is where we are, and there He is. How do we get from where we are to where He is? If that is going to take place, there is going to be a movement. There is going to be a movement in the right direction. It's not where you are now. It's the direction you're facing and it's the direction you're moving that determines the end result of what you get at the end of the day. I've been thinking about it. I think about it, not just for people I preach to. I think about it for myself. I say, "Now the minister needs a change. The man needs a change." Here is this man. We look at him now. Here is that man, the man of Galilee. Here is that man, the Son of Man. We look at the man here now: he is ordinary. We look at that man there, the man of Galilee, the Son of Man: He is extraordinary. Then I'm asking myself, "Why would Jesus Christ have to come here?" The Son of God became the Son of Man that the sons of men may become the sons of God. I picked that up that Jesus Christ came from glory. As Jesus Christ came from heaven, that's the Son of God, He became the Son of Man. But I say, "But why would He do that?" So that we, the sons of men, may become the sons of God. He wants to bring many sons unto glory. Then I'm asking myself, "Is that being done? Are we just having church? Are we just having a convention? Are the sons of men being transformed? Are they being changed? Are they becoming the sons of God?" I mean, in the real sense, are they becoming like that man of Galilee? Are they becoming like that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man? So then, I'm asking myself, "Change the man. Change the man." First of all, the man standing in the pulpit change the man. Is there something that needs to be changed in me? You will not know. I only can tell if I allow the Spirit of God to talk to me. He says, "What's your goal in life." I want to be like Jesus, talk like Jesus, walk like Jesus, pray like Jesus, think like Jesus, and just do everything, so that I'll have that resemblance of the Son of God. Well then, the man needs a change. Write that down, the man. If the change is going to come, the change will have to come to the man. I say, "But what's the man? Who is the man?" Then I now begin to see the mind is the man. The mind is the man. If the man is going to have a change, his mind must have a change. "Be ye transformed in the renewing of your mind." You know, it's not just what we hear. If what we hear does not affect our mind, if what we listen to does not really get into our mind, the man will never be changed. So as we come in even the medical doctors will tell you now the effect of the mind on your success, Deeper Christian Life Ministry 2

3 the effect of the mind on what you attract, the effect of your mind on what comes around you, the effect of your mind on your destiny, the effect of the mind on your health the mind. It is when the mind is changed then the man eventually will be changed. I'm asking myself now, "If my mind is going to be changed, what else am I looking for?" Number three now I'm talking about one is the man; number two is the mind; number three is the model. I wonder who Hitler had been looking at as a model. I'm wondering who Winston Churchill was looking at as a model, because you look at somebody before you. You're always thinking, I want to be like that. At least I know that happened to me when I was in school. Of all my teachers - this one came in and taught, this one came in and taught. It wasn't really the subjects, you know? It was the teacher. I said, "I ll like to be like this teacher." That was a model. At that time, I didn't know that I was choosing him as a mentor, as a model, but I just loved the way he carried himself and the way he came to the subject and the way he did everything that he did. I said, "That's who I want to follow." Then I'd be asking myself whenever I'm studying, whenever I'm alone by myself I'll say, "Will my model do this? Will my model say it like this?" When I became a teacher, I just modeled everything after him. You see, if you are going to change the man, you'll change the mind, you'll change the model. If you've had the wrong hero and you've been looking at the wrong hero, and you pick your hero from the media just like this great pop singer, great man that died recently and somebody here, one of the politicians had to say, "Why is it we're kind of adoring and exalting a pervert?" You know, somebody was bold enough to say, "Why is it that everybody is just moving around, swirling around? And it looks like what we're kind of adoring and exalting the wrong personality. Yes, I know that some people say, "How could you say that? Never say anything wrong, anything negative about the dead. He's gone. Say everything good about him." But the man was concerned, and we can be telling the church, "Who are we lifting up as a model?" Because if you don't have the right model you're not going to have the right mind; you're not going to focus on the right thing to do. You want to change the man? Change the mind. Then change the model. Then you also need to change the meditation what you meditate on. "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. You will meditate therein day and night, that you'll make your way prosperous, you'll have good success." It's what we think about all day long. What do you think about? What he said about me? You're thinking about the wrong thing. You're meditating on the wrong thing. If you're meditating on the Word of God the Word of God is sent to us to transform us and to change us, to turn us around, and to make us the kind of man, the kind of woman, the kind of pastor, the kind of minister, the kind of member of the church we ought to be. But it depends on what you meditate on. I asked you whether you were here in the morning. Those of us who were here in the morning did you meditate on what we heard? The desire and what you acquire and what you inquire and how you perspire, how you inspire and how you retire, get away from the crowd, Deeper Christian Life Ministry 3

4 and then you can come back and re-fire. Are you meditating on anything like that? Because the meditation will take you to a particular level: you'll be able to say, "Here is what to do," because you are meditating on the right thing. Without meditation, we're not going to be changed. It's not just what we hear. It's not just because we are coming to convention or we're there all the time. There is the meditation. Let that change. It will change. I said, "It will change." Now, another thing that will change, if the man is going to change, that's my mouth my mouth. You know, it doesn't matter what you know, if something comes out of your mouth every time, like - what came yesterday is what is coming today; what came last week is what is coming today: the mouth has not had a change. You are going to scatter all your friends with your mouth. You are going to attract more enemies with your mouth. You are going to attract defeat and failure with your mouth, the things you say. Out of the heart of man comes whatever we say what comes out of the mouth. If the man is going to be changed, the mouth must change. I don't think there is anybody here that will say, "I think I'm alright...the way my mouth is." I think there can be an improvement. We can move from where we are and get to where we ought to be. It is the change in such a thing like this that is what is going to be a change for the man. We don't want to be like all the other churches coming for convention or going to their convocation. They're going to wherever they go camp meeting and as it was so it is, and so it will ever be. I pray this church will be different that something will happen that we'll know a change has come upon the man, a change has come upon his mind, a change has come upon what he meditates on (upon his meditation), a change has come upon his mouth, a change will come on the measure the measure. What you get measured gets done. If you have a goal, if you say, "Here is where I'm going," but you are not measuring how you'll get there and what progress you have made and what progress you have not made you're just walking from day to day and acting from day to day you never measure anything. How do you measure? Do I love today more than I loved yesterday? Do I believe God today for things I couldn't believe God for yesterday? My interaction and my relationship with people, my interaction with people is there any change? Is there an improvement on my interpersonal relationship? There must be a measure. Of course, you must also have the right measure, because if you don't have the right measure, you'll be congratulating yourself that I'm making progress when there was no progress at all. We need to see all this so that we know why we are here, so that whatever message we're preaching and whatever message we're hearing, we will know that the purpose, the end line, the bottom line, is the change of the man. If the man is going to have a change, then the mind must have a change, his model must be the right model, and the meditation must be there and also he must have the right kind of mouth and the right kind of measure. I pray the Lord will do it in Jesus' name. Can it be done without (number one) disappointment with myself? I'm disappointed with the level I am now. I'm disappointed I've not gone beyond this. I look at those apostles of Jesus Deeper Christian Life Ministry 4

5 Christ and I see that they only spent three and half years with the Lord Jesus and see the measure of their knowledge and their output and the things they did and the places they went and the impact they had. I've been with the Lord now for more than three and half years, for more than double that (seven years) and see the why I am. Number one is the disappointment. You are disappointed that this is still where you are. Number two, then, is the decision that you take a decision and say, "Hey, there must be a change. There's nobody that will make the change for me. I'm the one that has to decide that a change will come." It's that decision that gets you started, that gets you going right direction. Then of course, I'm sure you know that you determine the direction if you have decided. Then you want to climb the ladder. Please, before you start climbing the ladder, watch and look at the wall where the ladder is leaning. Look at the top of that ladder - is that where you want to reach at the end of climbing? Because some people just spend all their time climbing the ladder and they never look at where the ladder is leaning then they get to top of the ladder and they say, "Wow. I've wasted my life. This is not where I wanted to be. I've been laboring and climbing the wrong ladder or a good ladder but leaning on the wrong side of the wall." Look at where you are climbing, and then you decide the direction that you are moving. Then, you now determine and say, "I'm the owner of this life. God gave me this life. What I make of it is what comes out. I'm not going to allow anybody to determine or dictate what I do, where I go. This one life must be useful to the Lord." It is when you do that, by the grace of God, with discipline and diligence, you are able to get to where you are going. Your destiny will be on the right hand side of the Lord in Jesus' name. Give me a good, good Amen. Now tonight we are talking about the seed of Abraham. Abraham's Seed with Abraham's Faith. We're looking at the seed to start with. Number one, there are natural seeds; there are spiritual seeds. What we are concerned about today is the spiritual. But let me show you the natural. We're looking at John chapter 8. In John chapter 8, I'm reading from verse 33. "They answered him, 'We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?'" They said, "We be Abraham's seed." As tonight we are talking about Abraham's seed with Abraham's faith, is this the kind of seed we are talking about the natural seed, the seed of Abraham, the descendants of Abraham, the people that came out of the loins of Abraham? The answer is, No. Look at verse 37: "I know that ye are Abraham s seed; but ye seek to kill Me." "I know that you are Abraham's natural seed, and you seek to kill Me." These are not the kind of people we are talking about the natural ones, those who are born by Abraham, born by Christian parents, born by religious people. We go beyond that. We're looking at Romans chapter 9. We're looking at verse 6 all through to verse 8. "Not as though the Word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel." Think about that. "They are not all Israel that are of Israel." That is, it's not the people Deeper Christian Life Ministry 5

6 that show up physically the people that are there in body, the people that are there in the physical, and the people that lay claim to Abraham "Abraham is our Father. We're children of Abraham. We are the seed of Abraham." It's not all those people that are actually of Israel. Then it says in verse 7: "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham " That is natural. " are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God." "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God." By the way, it's the decision of the individual that makes him either the seed of Abraham in the real sense or he's just naturally born. You don't have any choice in the fact that you are born by Abraham or the descendants of Abraham no choice of parents. You didn't choose your parents all those natural things you didn't make a choice. But as for the spiritual, you make a choice, you take a stand, and you make up your mind and make a decision. So the natural seed you didn't decide you are going to be the natural seed. But that doesn't profit much because you didn't have any choice in that. But the one that you choose, the one that you decide, the one that you say, "There is value in being Abraham's seed spiritually. There is importance in being Abraham's seed spiritually. There is the heritage and the inheritance of the people of God if I'm Abraham's seed. There are promises that He has made unto Abraham and to his seed. Because I want the promises, because I delight in, I desire those promises, then I make up my mind and take a decision I'm going to be Abraham's seed. That means you want to be born again, you want to be a child of God, you want to have that inner transformation that inner transformation then makes you a seed of Abraham. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." When you make up your mind like that and you say, "Yes. This is what I'm going to do a child of God." There's repentance, there's a turning around and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you'll be one of the people we're talking about tonight. Look at verse 8 again. "That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." The children of promise counted for the seed. I'm looking at Galatians, chapter 3. We're looking at verse 27. We're talking about what it takes, the decision it takes, the repentance it takes, the transformation it takes for you to become of that seed of Abraham. Then you can live in the faith of that seed of Abraham. You can direct your life and live your life in the faith of the seed of Abraham. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ " Immersed into Christ, embedded in Christ, a branch in the vine. It says, "You have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Look at verse 29 very important to what we're talking about. It says, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye " What? "Abraham's seed." If you belong to Christ that means if you have taken Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, your Redeemer and the controller of your life. It says, Deeper Christian Life Ministry 6

7 "If you belong to Christ." " if ye be Christ s, then are ye Abraham s seed, and heirs according to the promise" of God. According to the promise. We're looking at Abraham's Seed with Abraham's Faith. We're going to look at the whole family of Abraham. If you know the real family of Abraham we have Abraham, we have Sarah, and we have who? Isaac. The father and then the wife of Abraham, and then we have the son. As you look at the composite life of those three, then you will see the kind of faith that they had and what their faith produced. Remember, once again, you want a model. You want a model. You're looking at that model and you're saying, "If I am Abraham's seed and I am going to have Abraham's faith, then this is my model." Then you remember - the mind; that has to change. That has to turn around because it's the mind that determines the direction in which you go and what you eventually achieve in life. And the mediation: what you're meditating upon. You'll find that as you look at Abraham, what he meditated on and the word he took, and the way he led his life that's why the blessings came upon his life. What you say your mouth what you say. The messages you're hearing at a convention you're attending will not have too much impact if there is no change in the mouth, the things you say the things you say to yourself and the things you say to other people. So we're going to look at the whole family Abraham and Sarah and Isaac. Three points, then 1. The Faith of Abraham's Seed. And we ll take that from the life of Abraham himself. The Faith of Abraham's seed. 2. The Fruitfulness of Abraham's Spouse. The Fruitfulness of Abraham's Spouse. You'll find there it s the seed's faith that still led to that fruitfulness. 3. The Faithfulness of Abraham's Son. The Faithfulness of Abraham's Son. Abraham's seed, Abraham's spouse, Abraham's son. 1. The Faith of Abraham's Seed. We're looking at Romans, chapter 4, and we're looking at verse 16. Remember now the seed of Abraham those are the people who by faith have taken Jesus Christ as their Lord, as their Savior, as their Redeemer. The burden of sin is gone, and the guilt, condemnation of sin is gone. They can say, "Yes, I believe. He made a change in my life, a change in my heart, because I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ." That's Abraham's seed. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to " Who? " all the seed." It is by faith so that the promise of God all the promises of God in Christ which are yes and Amen might be fulfilled for all the seed "not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham." The seed must have the faith of Abraham the faith of Abraham. Deeper Christian Life Ministry 7

8 Then it says, " who is the father of us all." Now what's the faith of Abraham? He now begins to tell us what the faith of Abraham is how you describe, how you demonstrate that faith of Abraham. Verse 17: "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed." Number one, he believed the promise. He believed the promise. You look at the Word of God, and you believe the promise. I know that these are days of motivation. You know, in the United States here you have motivational speakers. These motivational speakers I mean even in the secular they move around quite a lot and give this seminar and that seminar. If you're used to that field you might know some names. But some of those names I understand they re now evaluating what they have done. They re evaluating where they have been. And they re evaluating the things that they used to say and the people that attended their seminars. You know, the days of I don't want to mention their names but those who talk about positive thinking and the positive confession. They repeat this and this over and over again and positive affirmation. Then with all of those affirmations and the positive things and utterances that we say, there's no change in the mind. There's no grace in the heart. There is no change of character. We just say, "This will be, and this will be." We do know that there are laws that govern all these things. The promises of God are not just hanging in mid-air. You have foundation, a root for those promises. There must be a change in the heart, and then you pick up those promises, the promises are made for you. In any congregation like this, there are saints; there are sinners. There are believers; there are backsliders. If everybody just repeats and recites all the promises of God and says, It s mine What if the prodigal son in the far away country kept on repeating to himself while he was there in the far country, "I'm good. I'm great. I will do well. I will succeed. No evil shall come upon me"? And the fellow stays in the far country. No, you don't take the promises of God like that. He came to himself. Then he said, "I will arise and go to my father and I will say unto my father " It's not what you say to yourself first, it is what you say to the Father "I have sinned against heaven and against You. I'm not worthy to be called your child. Make me one of your hired servants." And while he was coming, the father ran and embraced him. He got into the family before the inheritance in the family became his. So those motivational speakers themselves, they're reviewing and they're kind of saying, the things we have been teaching and the motivations we have been giving, what's the effect? I actually heard of one of them, and I heard this from him directly himself - one of the motivational speakers. He went and delivered a great talk, and the people shouted. They were excited - excited for the moment. Then after that excitement, one of the people came and said, "Do you recognize me?" And the fellow said, "No. I see many people. How can I recognize you?" So the fellow said, "Well, I attended your motivational talk and seminar just like I did today some years ago" mentioned Deeper Christian Life Ministry 8

9 the place and mentioned the event. "Then you told us that anything we just declare, just say just repeat it and that we'll be free. And I wanted to be free from smoking. I said it over and over and over again. In that excitement I went back home saying, 'I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. No more smoking.'" Then the motivational speaker smiled and said, "Yes. That's what I say positive affirmation." Then the fellow brought out a packet of Marlboro and said, "Look at this. I'm still on it. I'm still not free." It is not just saying it. You need help from above. Come out of the far country. Then come and say, "Lord, I come to you. I want a change. I want these promises to be mine." It is that that makes the confession, the affirmation, useful and profitable. Otherwise, if we just come to this convention and all we do is confession all we do is positive affirmation all we do is just say, "I am this. I am this. I'll go great. I'll succeed." You never study. You never go to work. The laziness is still there. The procrastination is still there. The hatred, malice, is still there. All the deficiencies in character are still there. Only confession that will not do. We need the change of heart and the change of life. Then after that then we'll hold onto the promises of God. Give me a good Amen. Now we come back to this Romans chapter 4. It says, "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." Then it says in verse 18: "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith " Remember that faith has foundation. He was a friend of God I know that Abraham would instruct all his children to do according to all that I ve spoken unto him. It is that foundation of obedience and that foundation of righteousness that made him now to be able to stand by that faith and claim the promises of God that what God said and spoke into his life that those things would come to pass. " being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead." He considered not his own body. He considered the might of God, the power of God, the strength of God, the anointing of God, the promise of God, and what God has said because he had right, proper motivation and proper meditation. He had the Word of God within him. On that foundation, he was able to receive what the Lord had promised. " he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief." You know, sometimes those promises are so great. Sometimes they're beyond the human, beyond the natural. And, because they're beyond the human and the natural and the ordinary, most people will feel, How can that be? How can that mountain move? How can that impossibility become possible? How can that great thing, unheard of, great exploits how can that be done? How can that supernatural come into the life of a natural man? But " he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief " because he knew that God is the creator of the heavens and the earth, the creator of the universe and because He says, "I Deeper Christian Life Ministry 9

10 am God. I change not." With Him nothing shall be impossible. I said, "With Him nothing shall be impossible." If you're in the right place and you have the right understanding and you accept the right word that He has spoken, then He fulfills that word. He doesn't need your help, your power, your support. He doesn't need anything from you. All He needs from you is the faith. Once you are standing in the right place, having the mind that you ought to have, and you're holding onto those promises, then, everything He said will come will come in Jesus' name. He tells us in verse 21: "And being fully persuaded " Not just almost persuaded, but fully persuaded in his heart. " that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform." The Lord is able to perform. He will do it in Jesus' name. I want you to look at Hebrews, chapter 11. We're looking at the faith of Abraham's seed. You take that faith of Abraham's seed from the faith of Abraham himself. You must be able to do what Abraham did, go the way Abraham went, and live the way Abraham lived, and hold onto the promises Abraham held onto. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8: "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out " Tell me the rest. That's the faith of Abraham. That's more than just making a confession of faith, making an affirmation of faith. God called him and said, "Abraham." He said, "Yes." "Stand up, and go to this place. He's never been in that place before. You know that there is something we call the comfort zone. The comfort zone is where we're familiar with - the comfort zone. We've been there all the time. All our friends are there everything surrounding us in the comfort zone. The Lord is saying, "Get out of that comfort zone. I'm going to take you to a zone that you have never been." And Abraham believed God. He says, "God is wise. He knows the end from the beginning. I don't know anything about I'm not familiar with that land. Yet He wants to take me there." "And he went out, not knowing whither he went." That's the faith of Abraham. You see many people, and they're not willing to take that journey from the known to the unknown. They say, "I don't know what the future will bring. I don't know what this new move, a new direction, a new decision where it will lead me." And because they do not know that, they cannot take the step. But the faith of Abraham is that when God called him to go to a place he did not know, he did not say, "Lord, tell me everything." Isn't that the people who are trying to see visions today? They want to know everything before they ever take any step. They want to be able to say, "I'm sure this will happen and this will happen and that will happen. If they don't have all that vision, they're not going to take a step. That's not faith. That's why over here in our church, we just follow the Lord by faith. He says, "I'm taking you here. I'm taking you there." We say, "Yes, Lord. We are following." We can even close our eyes and follow Him. We don't have to say, "Lord, but how about this, how about this?" That's the faith of Abraham that he " obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." Deeper Christian Life Ministry 10

11 We're looking at Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 17. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried " When he was tested... Your conviction will be tested. Your confession will be tested. Your consecration, commitment, will be tested. You know there are people that cannot take any test at all. No, not in church. They cannot endure anything. If you tested them like Naomi tested Ruth in the Old Testament "Why are you following after me? Go back. Do I have any child, any son in my womb to give you? What even if you have hope and I say, 'I shall have a son today'? Will you be able waiting until that child is grown up?" There are people that cannot follow, they cannot stand the test. And Ruth said, "Don't tell me to go back because where you go I will go. Where you live I will live, and where you die I will die." The Lord blessed that woman later. You see the blessing that came on Ruth is because of passing the test. Here comes Elijah. Elijah said unto Elisha, "You tarry here. The Lord has sent me to onto Bethel." Then Elisha said, "As the Lord liveth, as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." They went on together. They got to Jericho, and he said, "You stay here. The Lord has sent me to another place beyond Jordan." He said, "As the Lord liveth, as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." Sometimes there are people that come to church and the pastor might like me I might say something that they say, "Okay. He puts me off. He says I shouldn't follow. He says find your way. Go your way and all that Since that's what he said I'm sensitive. I understand what people say. If they say it by action, they say it by what - I can tell. I know the meaning of what they say. So I get out of their sight." You failed the test. But you know Elisha said, "No. I'm still following." I said, "I'm still following." I said, "I'm still following." You know, there are people that feel that Elijah must always bend to Elisha. The master must always bend to the member, to the subject. But, you know, it wasn't so in the Bible days. The 50 sons of the prophets said, "Elisha, do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from your head today?" He said, "I know it. Hold your peace." He was looking for something. If you're looking for something, you'll pass the test. You'll stay there and say, "Yes. I know what he's saying. He's saying I should stay here." By the way, "Elijah did not tell Elisha that God told him that you are the one to stand in my room after I'm gone." Elijah never said anything like that. He just said, "Stay back. Go back. Don't run after me. Don't follow after me." But he kept on following. That's how the mantle came upon him. The people that easily give up, and the people that say, "Yes. I understand what they are saying. I understand they're saying I should find my way." They never get the mantle. But the people that follow through by faith they're the people that get the mantle. I pray that you'll follow through. So we hear about this Abraham. He was tested. We're looking at verse 17 again. It says, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried [when he was tested], offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Verse 19: "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from Deeper Christian Life Ministry 11

12 the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." That's the faith, the faith of Abraham's seed that it looks impossible, what the Lord is demanding of me the repentance and the turning around and doing this and doing that which appears to be out of the ordinary. I'm going to do it because I know that if I do that, God has something He's going to achieve out of that. He'll achieve it in your life in Jesus' name. 2. The Fruitfulness of Abraham's Spouse. The Fruitfulness of Abraham's Spouse. It wasn't only Abraham that had faith. Sara, too the spouse, the wife had faith. We're looking at Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 11. "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful " Because she accounted God faithful because she looked at all the actions of God, all the things God had done, all the things that God had said. And what God had said always matched what God had done. Eventually she came to that point and said, "I can trust God. I won't trust my body more than God. I'm not going to make a god of my body. I'm not going to make the condition of my body to be more stable and more solid and more dependable than the Word of God." Because of that, we're told, she trusted in God and she judged Him faithful " who had promised." Our God is faithful. And, because He is faithful, you can look away from everything you see around you, everything you feel within you. Then you can say, "Because of the faithfulness of God, this is what I'm going to stand upon." And the Lord will glorify Himself in your life in Jesus' name. We're looking at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 23. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering." Let us hold fast us the believers all the regenerate us the people of God, us the people who have made Christ our Savior, our Lord. It says, "Let us hold fast and let us hold on to that profession, confession, of faith without wavering (for he is faithful that promised)." He is faithful. The condition of the world will not change the faithfulness of God. The economy will not change the faithfulness of God. The way you feel in your body, your feeling will not change the faithfulness of God. All the people that surround you their comments, their jeering, whatever it is they do or say will not change the faithfulness of God. That's why it says, "Since we know that God is faithful, let us hold fast the confession and the profession of our faith knowing that our God is a faithful God." Because God is faithful, we know He will do what He said He will do. No matter, even if the sky, the heavens, if they move, we know that God who is a faithful God, who says, "I'm God. I change not." He will do everything. 1 Corinthians We're looking at chapter 1, verse 9 the faithfulness of God and the faithfulness of Abraham's spouse, counting God to be faithful, judging God to be faithful, and saying that His promises are Yes and Amen in Christ. I can rest on that, I can depend on that. I can overlook the way I feel. Then I can stand upon this unchanging truth, unchanging Word. "God is faithful " Is He faithful? God is faithful. If there is any failure, it's not because God is failing. The failure is always on man's side. Maybe sometimes you are trying to claim a letter that is not sent to you. Maybe you are trying to do something that you don't have really a faith ground to stand on that thing. Deeper Christian Life Ministry 12

13 I know the people that always quote Mark, chapter 11, verse 23. I'm coming back to 1 Corinthians, but let me just show you something and see why sometimes they say, "I quoted it. It didn't work. I tried to stand upon it, and it didn't work." I'm saying, "Did you look at everything there? Every dot of an i and the cross of a t there? Did you go through everything like Abraham and the worthies of old, like they went through, like they were faithful to God in their believing the Lord?" They didn't just take the part of the Word they wanted, the part of the word they liked, and then just stand on that and say, "God, this is what you said. I'm standing on it." We stand on everything. And it is as you stand on everything then the promise will be fulfilled. Mark chapter 11, verse 23. It says, "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, 'Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;' and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Have you heard that before? I said, "Have you heard that before?" Then I'm wondering now why they brought that son to the disciples and they tried to cast out the evil spirit and they couldn't do it. But He said, "You'll have whatsoever you say." Why didn't they have it? I'm wondering why Peter could not stand because he said, "Even though all people deny you, I will not deny you." I'm wondering why he wasn't able to stand by that. After all, Jesus said, "Ye shall have whatsoever you say." Our problem is we isolate verse 23. We don't go beyond that. Go beyond it. Verse 24: "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall " Is that the end? Verse 25: "And when ye stand praying " Tell me the rest. Let's look up here for a moment. If we're going to be very sincere - here we are from all these various branches of our church in the United States Don t we have things against one another? Yes, we do. Do we ever talk about them? No, we don't. We just say, "Hi, how are you?" We smile, and we have all this things in the heart. Then we come in here "Whatsoever we say" and we say a volume of things you can always put in Webster's dictionary or encyclopedia and then we still have...we're saying and saying and saying and nothing is being done. It's very simple when you stand praying. Do what? Forgive. When you forgive, you forget. Then you live. You act the way as if the person never offended you. You live in that life and you don't live like you know how people do here, how indirectly they pass some comments to say, "Hey. If you're happy, I want to puncture that happiness. I remember what you did against me." But they don't do that directly. They say some things insinuating just to remind you that you have no right to be happy. "Because you did this against me the other time, I'm still going to get even with you." Then we come in here and we quote all these promises and we say a lot of things and nothing happens because we didn't go all the length. I'm here. My time is running out. I don't mean time tonight, I mean time in general. How many years remain? I don't know. Because of that, I need to tell you everything that God is saying in the Word. I don't want to come in here and just pump you up and excite you and everybody is jumping and then the real thing that makes the whole thing tick we never said it. Somebody must say it. Forgive one another. If that is the only thing we do tonight then you just search out Deeper Christian Life Ministry 13

14 the person that we know that we bottle up a lot of things inside and we avoid that one and avoid that one. Then sometimes we don't avoid, we try to kind of put on a good face and a good smile. We think everything is alright, and everything is not alright husband and wife, parents and children, members of the church and ministers. It says, "When you stand praying," do what? " if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." We're talking about the faithfulness of God, that whenever there is any failure, the failure does not come from God. There is a part of the Word we are not looking at. There is a part of the Word we're not fulfilling. Because of that lack, and because of that negligence, and because of disobedience in that area that's the reason why all those promises are not Yes and Amen to the people that are not standing on the fullness of the Word of God. As for our God, our God is faithful. I said, "Our God is faithful." I'm back now to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 9. "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." I pray that faithfulness we'll see in Jesus' name. What actually brought Sarah to this condition of believing that now she could say, "Praise the Lord, I believe"? She wasn't considering her body anymore. Then she received the faith to conceive and to be able to have this son of promise. We're looking now at Genesis chapter 18. I'm reading from verse 11. "Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, 'After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord [my husband] being old also?' And the LORD said unto Abraham, 'Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, "Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" Is any thing too hard for the LORD?'" That's what changed Sarah. That's what changed her mind. Remember, the mind must be changed. What we meditate on must be changed. The words of your mouth must be changed before the man is changed, before you come to the place of believing and stand on the faith ground, on the ground that says, "I take the promises of God as they are. Now I know. I'm not considering how I feel. I'm not considering who I am. I'm not considering where I've been. I'm not considering what I feel in my body: I'm considering God who has made the promises." "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?" That is what made her to have the faith she had. That is what will make you to have the faith you should have. And when you have it something different will happen in your life Jesus' name. We're looking at Jeremiah chapter 32. There we're looking at verse 27. "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" Don't be too quick in praying. You have a need, you have a challenge, you have a problem. Before you pray, look at the size of that problem, and look at the weight of the problem. Look at the peculiarity of that problem and say, "Is this too hard for God? Can God do this? Has there been any other person in Bible days and in contemporary times that had a challenge like this, a problem like this, a kind of mountain like this, and God answered their prayer?" And God is no respecter of persons. "Can God do this?" When you ask that question, and you settle the question, it's after settling that, then you'll Deeper Christian Life Ministry 14

15 be able to pray aright. "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" The answer is not left to the opinions of men. The answer is given in verse 17. Look at verse 17. "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm " Tell me the rest. Say it aloud. " there is nothing too hard for thee." What if you meditate on that? What if you just as you wake up in the morning "There is nothing too hard for my God." Don't pray yet, and don't think about the problem yet. "There is nothing too hard for my God." Then everywhere you go "There is nothing too hard for my God. If there is any failure, the failure is on my side. If there is any failure, it is because maybe there is something I'm overlooking in my life, in my relationship with the Lord. If my relationship with the Lord is right, if my holding onto the promise and faithfulness of God is right, there is nothing too hard for Him. When you have that filling your mind and filling your head and filling your soul and your spirit, then you go to God and say, "God, this is what you have promised. And there is nothing too hard for You." It will be done in Jesus' name. 3. The Faithfulness of Abraham's Son. The Faithfulness of Abraham's Son. Why are we bringing in the Son? Well, we are talking about the seed. We're talking about the seed. Not only that, when God called Abraham, this is what He said unto him let's keep Abraham waiting by the corridor to start with. Let's interview some other people. Here is David. Here is what God said about David, "I will build you a house. I will do this. I will do this, if your children follow after this and that." Then Solomon came up. In fact, God even named Solomon. He said, "I'm going to give you a son. His name will be Solomon, and this is what he will do: All this you had in heart, he is the one that will get it done." Then Solomon rose up and married many strange wives, and built all these temples for the idols of strange lands. God was angry with Solomon and said, "It's true I said, 'I will do this.' That be far from Me; I cannot do it again." The Faithfulness of the Son. Then look at Eli. God said, "Eli, did I tell the house of your fathers, 'You'll be a priest unto Me forever'? But now that be from Me. I cannot do that anymore. Yes I promised that, but you didn't stay as their descendants on the faith ground for Me to do that I cannot do that at all because they that honor Me I will honor, and they that dishonor Me will be lightly esteemed. Therefore, He now removed that promise and covenant from that family, with that whole line. Look at Saul. "Saul, what have you done? Well, when I saw the people were scattering away from Me, I therefore had to change and force Myself to do this. Your kingdom would have continued, but now it will not continue. Do you see the conditions then? As we come and we're talking about Abraham's seed the faithfulness of the son. That's very, very important. As you look at Isaac, let's come back to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 20. We're looking at what God promised Abraham, because what God promised Abraham went beyond Abraham and went to his seed and went to his descendents. That's why it is very important that the seed of the son should also follow in the footsteps of Abraham. "By faith," "By faith " What's the next word? " Isaac." It's not just Abraham and it's not just Sarah Isaac as well. "By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come." The faithfulness of Isaac. Deeper Christian Life Ministry 15